A jump rope which provides a pair of handles each handle providing a shaft coaxially rotatably engaged to a first bearing element and a second bearing element which attaches to a corresponding one of the opposed ends of a cable element.
Rope jumping also referred to as rope skipping, skip roping, and jump rope is a skilled activity. There are literally thousands of jump rope skills which rope jumpers strive to achieve at increasingly greater jump rope spin or turn rates. While conventional jump ropes have improved over time, substantial problems with conventional jump ropes still remain unresolved.
A first substantial problem with convention jump ropes may be that the constructional form of the jump rope handles limits the rate at which the attached rope or cable element of the jump rope can be spun or turned. One aspect of this problem may be the level of resistance to rotation of the rope or cable element by conventional jump rope handles. The greater the level of resistance to rotation of the cable within the jump rope handle the lower the rate of turn or spin achievable by a jumper. A second aspect of this problem may be that the rope or cable element attaches too closely or too far from the jump rope handle. Attachment of the rope or cable element too close to the handle may result in contact between the cable element and the handle during turns of the rope or cable element. Attachment of the rope or cable element to far from the jump rope handle establishes the length of the lever arm through which the forces developed as the jump rope spins or turns are directed to the jump rope handles. As the lever arm increases in length, the difficulty in controlling the motion correspondingly generated in the handles can increase to an extent that the rate at which the rope or cable element turns can not be increased. A third aspect of this problem can be that attachment of the cable to the handle does not allow the cable to swivel on the cable axis or allow the cable to pivot relative to the handle. Accordingly, even a small amount of movement in the handle by the jumper can alter the configuration of the rope or cable element as it turns. Alteration in the configuration of the rope or cable element can limit the rate at which the rope or cable element can be turned or make controlling the turn or spin more difficult.
The instant invention addresses each of these problems with conventional jump ropes.